What to ask yourself before starting a layout

If you are just starting out on your model railway adventure and you are trying to decide what type of layout to build, the best advice would be to go to a model railway exhibition and take a look at the different types of layout that are on display there.

Exhibitions are great places to go because you can ask the modellers questions about their layouts, it would be very surprising if you came away without any inspiration.

The reason for doing a little bit of research before you start your layout is because it would be a very expensive mistake if you decided to change your design halfway through construction.

Once you have checked out an exhibition or two, it is time to start making decisions about your own layout. The first of which has already been made for you and that is: how much space have you got to play with? The answer to this question will help you come to viable conclusions to the rest of the decisions that you will be making.

Once you have evicted any relatives from the spare room, boxes from the loft or the car from the garage, you will have to give serious thought to what kind of scene you would like your railway to portray. For instance, would you like to see your model trains belting down a mainline or trundling down a branchline, maybe an industrial scene is more your thing, chances are you will already know the answer to this, after all, if you didn't have a theme in mind then you probably wouldn't have gotten this far.

If you have decided on modelling a sleepy branchline, then you will probably not have much of an issue, however, if you have bigger goals in mind, this is the point where you will probably realise that you do not have enough space to achieve your recreation of Clapham Junction in 00 gauge! Don't give up just yet though, have you considered modelling in a smaller gauge? there are lots of people now modelling in N gauge, due to the diverse and expanding range of products out there, N gauge can be just as rewarding as its larger counterparts and as a bonus, you can fit a lot more railway into your allocated space.

If you already have your heart set on 00 then you do need to think about how you are going to achieve a satisfying layout, by this we mean, decades ago modellers would have been quite content watching a two carriage express hurtling around a 2nd radius curve, only to see the same train repeat the same process six seconds later! These days however, the hobby has become much more sophisticated.

There are a couple of methods modellers now use to avoid the need for a 400ft spare room to create accurate mainline scenarios: some use just the end of a station poking out from a scene-break, a bit like modelling just the end part of the platforms at Birmingham New Street, the bulk of the train is hidden by the station facade and from the spectators perspective, your 8 carriage express is safely unloading passengers in a full-sized station. The reality of course is that the last seven coaches haven't even left  the fiddle yard yet, but out of sight, out of mind, the effect of this model is outstanding. It even negates the need for meters of point work that you would otherwise need to emulate a prototypical mainline station approach.

Another way more and more modellers are achieving realistic full-sized trains with limited space is to do away with the station altogether by depicting a mainline junction scene, these are brilliant! It is really surprising how little space is required, you can have a tunnel at one end of the layout, a long sweeping realistic and seemingly never-ending curve (or straight) for the middle section, a few points leading to a freight or branch-line and two tunnels at the other end, one for the mainline and one for the branch to wherever, you could make this type of layout double, triple or even quadruple track with no problem what so ever. The realism of this kind of layout is simply mind-blowing, the middle section can be as long or short as you require, whilst your trains remain full length and even full speed.

Now you have decided on your track layout, you can decide on how you are going to control your trains, you have two choices analogue (DC) or DCC.

Analogue is the original method, and the easiest way to get started, essentially your train reacts to how much power your controller feeds into the track. The more you turn up the controller, the faster the train goes. The disadvantage is that if you have two engines on the same track they will both move when power is applied.

With DCC however, the track is powered at all times, the engines can regulate the power on demand, and in isolation from any other engines on the same track. Because of this, DCC engines can divert some of that power for auxiliary purposes such as producing realistic engine, horn and braking noises.

It is important to decide which power to use before you start laying track because they require different wiring

techniques, and converting a layout retrospectively is a lot of work.

 

Then there is your scenery to consider. If you have lots of space then you can create hills, villages or even extensive sidings, but be careful not to offer all of your space to track as this can limit realism. If you don't have a lot of space then consider using low relief buildings. They are just the facade of a building that you arrange along the backboard of your layout, and they look great as well as saving you space. Also, don't forget to add a backscene, a city skyline or countryside landscape will bring your layout to life much more than a brick wall and there is a huge range to choose from.

So you have decided on the size and location of your layout, designated it as a mainline or branchline and figured out how to achieve realism, now it is time for the really fun bit, it's off down the model shop to chose your locomotives!